


Lightsider

by Ermingarde



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: Dark Empire era, Gen, S'vivon | Dreidel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:33:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28080990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ermingarde/pseuds/Ermingarde
Summary: Luke Skywalker and Kam Solusar play a game, in which Kam's future and Luke's very life are at stake.
Relationships: Kam Solusar & Luke Skywalker
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5
Collections: Festival of Lights Fest





	Lightsider

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Independence1776](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Independence1776/gifts).



> Supposedly, Kam Solusar renounced the dark side after Luke Skywalker beat him in a game called "Lightsider." We know nothing whatsoever about this game, because the graphic novel that was supposed to cover this was tragically canceled. 
> 
> I've decided they were playing dreidel. 
> 
> (Written for the [Festival of Lights Fest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Festival_of_Lights_Fest) prompt "Gambling games.")

"Here," Luke says. He digs in his pocket and pulls out a handful of low-denomination credit chits, presses half into Kam Solusar's palm.

Solusar scowls at him. 

"Are you trying to _bribe_ me over to the light side, Skywalker?" 

Luke shakes his head. From another pocket he takes a little four-sided top. 

"You have got to be joking," Solusar says.

"Here's the deal," says Luke. "We play. If I win, you come with me. Renounce the dark side and the Emperor's teachings. Learn to be a Jedi again." 

"And if _I_ win?" 

Luke takes a deep breath and hopes fervently that he hasn't misunderstood the prompting of the Force. 

"If you win," he says, "you get to kill me." 

Solusar laughs in a way that's clearly supposed to be menacing but is mostly just pathetic. 

"Jedi delusions. Why shouldn't I just kill you now?" 

Luke shrugs. 

"You can try," he says, with all the bravado he can muster. 

It's evidently enough to convince Solusar. He sits across from Luke and slaps one of the credit chits down between them, glaring at him from under heavy brows. Luke places his own chit in the pot less aggressively, then hands Solusar the top. 

_

  
They both cheat, of course. The top wobbles improbably across the floor, teetering on its point for longer than gravity should permit. It comes up _grek_ , and Luke takes the pot, as he has for the past half-dozen rounds.

They were evenly matched at first, but for all Solusar's strength in the Force, his stamina needs work. Solusar's arrogance gradually gave way to frustration and then to a grudging respect. 

Luke and Solusar each drop a chit in the pot, and now it's Solusar's turn to spin. 

_Senth._ Solusar puts down his last chit. 

"You've won, Jedi," he says, "for all the good it will do you."

Luke shakes his head. 

"Let me be the judge of that." He holds out his hand, and Solusar - _Kam_ \- takes it. "I feel the good in you," he continues. "The Emperor didn't destroy it. He couldn't. The Force flows through you still." 

"I played that game as a child," Kam says quietly. "In the Temple. The Emperor, he - I had forgotten for so long." 

Luke pulls him to his feet. 

"I don't know if I can be a Jedi again," Kam admits. "The things the Emperor did to me - the things _I've_ done…." 

"You're free, Kam," Luke says. "Free of the Emperor, and free of the dark side, if you want to be. If you want to be a Jedi again -" He shrugs. "As far as I'm concerned, you already are." 

**Author's Note:**

> (1) Some of the dialogue was inspired by the _Dark Empire II_ radio drama script, which includes an extra scene in which Luke and Kam fight a lightsaber duel. 
> 
> (2) _Grek_ and _senth_ are Aurebesh letters: grek = G for _gimel_ (take the whole pot!), senth = S for _shin_ (put one in). 
> 
> (3) Although my cousins are Jewish and as a result I played dreidel a truly immoderate number of times as a kid, I'm not Jewish myself. Please let me know if I messed up.


End file.
